TMZ Hip Hop - Page 6

Veteran rapper Mad Skillz says he needed a little extra motivation to record his "2025 Rap Up" track -- a year-end tradition for him since 2002 -- but is glad he did for his boy, D'Angelo!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Skillz as he prepares for the upcoming Grammy Awards, where his "Words For Days Vol. 1" is nominated for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album this year -- his 2nd nom in a row!!!

As for the "Rap-Up," Skillz credits his wife, Jennifer, and producer Jeymes Samuel for pushing him to chronicle the year ... Trump, Charlie Kirk, Diddy's trial, Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl and more were all signed, sealed, and delivered over D'Angelo and Raphael Saadiq's jazzy "Lady" instrumental.

Chrisean Rock is ready to lace 'em up -- as part of the XRumble Fighting Championships "Boxing" division -- as the latest signee!!!

On Wednesday, Chrisean, Chrisean Jr., and her manager, Kimberly Ross, linked up with XRumble's Damon Feldman and inked the deal to be part of their first female Super Middleweight Championship on Saturday, April 25, at Harrah's Philadelphia Casino in Chester, PA.

Damon tells TMZ ... Chrisean has been in great spirits and training in her native Baltimore by none other than Calvin Ford ... Gervonta Davis' ex-coach throughout the bulk of his undefeated record.

Kelly Rowland and Method Man are positioning themselves to be trending topics this Valentine's Day season ... by starring in a new rom-com film that highlights inter-office romps!!!

On Wednesday, Prime rolled out the official trailer for "Relationship Goals" ... Kelly and the Meth's new project -- which also features Robin Thede, Annie Gonzalez and Dennis Haysbert -- directly based on Pastor Mike Todd's best-selling book of the same name.

People often date close to work, and Kelly and Meth star as former flames battling for the same job position ... and as you probably guessed it, there's plenty of 'Dilemmas' and "Break Ups 2 Make Ups" galore!!!

French Montana and Max B flipped Soho House Ludlow in NYC into a full-on discotheque for part of their listening session last night ... quite fitting for an album titled "Coke Wave"!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video of French and Max previewing a track from their "Coke Wave 3.5: Narcos" album, which samples KC & The Sunshine Band's "That's the Way (I Like It)."

Cardi B says class is in session! The rapper hopped on social media Tuesday to hilariously show men how they should eat a banana if they care about their image.

Check out the video -- Cardi chomps down on a banana while admitting she's not trying to be sexy ... before breaking a piece off and telling viewers a "real" man eats the fruit by breaking it first. She unsurprisingly cracks herself up during the lesson ... snapping off another piece to make sure her teaching is understood.

The clip is a breath of fresh air as the "I Like It" hitmaker deals with drama at home ... she recently defended her boyfriend Stefon Diggs against allegations by his personal chef, who claimed she was choked during a dispute over her salary. Cardi posted a text message exchange with the alleged victim in which she says her words got twisted ... though she later deleted it for unknown reasons.

The NFL star is facing strangulation and assault charges, though his attorney David Meier said the claims "are unsubstantiated, uncorroborated, and were never investigated -- because they did not occur."

Wack 100 inadvertently found himself to be the best peacemaker this side of John Cena regarding the whole Adin Ross vs. Doechii situation.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Wack out in L.A. on Tuesday as he cheered on his boy, Adam22 -- ahead of his boxing match with Jason Luv -- and got him to break down how he got involved ... after receiving a call from Top Dawg Entertainment boss, Anthony Tiffith.

Adin fired off the rails with obscenities towards Doechii after assuming he was being mentioned in her new song, and Wack -- who's cool with Adin -- mediated the situation with TDE and got the streamer to chill.

Diddy's got a big payday problem, as in some of his employees are angry they're not getting paid while he's locked up in federal prison ... but his rep insists he has it under control.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Diddy's fortune is being handled by business management firm Tri Star Sports & Entertainment while he's in the clink, and we're told they're keeping a tight leash on his money -- too tight for some people on the payroll.

For instance, we're told some attorneys handling Diddy’s mountain of civil lawsuits have gone unpaid, and other staffers have been stiffed as well, and, as a result, at least one of them has quit.

Mary J. Blige can bank on at least a partial victory ... now that the lawsuit filed by her former sidekick Misa Hylton has been dismissed in New York court!!!

According to docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Blige and her legal squadron of Lisa Moore and Andrew Pequignot were granted the motion to dismiss the suit Hylton filed back in July 2025 ... without prejudice.

Which means, Hylton can still pursue sanctions against the megastar singer if she chooses, but her lack of movement -- after Blige labeled the lawsuit "frivolous" -- suggests there will be no more drama.

Keke Palmer and Anderson .Paak didn't feel like BET's cookout was cookin' when it decided to streamline the Soul Train Awards to a backyard-style concert -- and had the nerve to cancel the Hip Hop Awards at that!!!

The slick shade towards the network came during AP's appearance on "Baby, This Is Keke Palmer" podcast ... the "Silk Sonic" singer was in full alter-ego mode as "DJ Pee.Wee" and Keke transformed into "Lady Miss Jacqueline."

The last Soul Train Awards happened in 2023 ... Keke scoffed that the producers attempted to be creative but ended up having her and the rest of the talent look janky performing by the fence from the "Home Improvement" set.

Tekashi 6ix9ine will be spending 3 months at the same jail currently housing Nicolás Maduro ... and he tells TMZ he hopes to hang out with the ousted Venezuelan dictator.

The rapper tells us, "I want to dance with Maduro!"

Streamer Adin Ross accompanied Tekashi -- streaming the events -- as he showed up to check into jail Tuesday afternoon ... they rolled up in a Sprinter van, with Tekashi rapping over his own tracks on the speakers inside ... check out the video to watch 69 walk through the gates escorted by federal corrections officers.

ICYMI ... The New York Times reported a video of Maduro dancing actually motivated "some on the Trump team" to pull the trigger on capturing him in Venezuela.

Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox's recent public outings have sparked rumors of reconciliation ... but sources tell TMZ they're still broken up.

Despite being spotted in public several times over the past few months with their daughter, Saga, multiple sources tell us Megan and MGK are currently living separately.

We're told Megan has the baby full-time and the two are co-parenting as needed.

JasonMartin is putting his foot down after hearing Adin Ross call Doechii a "bitch" one too many times ... the culture's not going for it in 2026!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with JM in L.A. this week, and he says Adin being aggressively addressed is vital to preventing outsiders of Black culture from toeing the line in the future.

Adin maintains Doechii targeted him on her new track, "Girl, Get Up," when she blasted people labeling her "an industry plant" ... and blamed Complex magazine for helping fuel the fire.

Joe Budden, Glasses Malone, Wack 100, and Top Dawg Entertainment execs have all chimed in on Adin's comments, and Jason says it's bigger than internet tough talk ... and won't allow Adin to hide behind religion or freedom of speech to drag Black women.

Snoop Dogg was responsible for the call of the NBA season on Monday ... the legendary rapper happened to be behind the microphone for an epic Steve Kerr flipout sesh, and he captured the crazy moment as only he could!

Snoop picked up the headset and stepped into the proverbial booth for the second half of  Monday's showdown between the Warriors and the Clippers in Los Angeles ... when Kerr's emotions got the better of him in the fourth quarter, leading to losing it on the refs, and getting tossed from the game.

Tha Doggfather captured the moment perfectly, as only he could.

Red-hot UK rapper EsDeeKid blew everyone's minds by standing next to Timothee Chalamet with their "4 Raws (Remix)" that proved they were two different people ... especially in the case of Raw Papers founder, Josh Kesselman!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Josh on Monday and he tells us his phone was buzzing off the hook the morning when EsDeeKid and Timothee blazed up the track, proving that they weren't the same person as they sung ... "I'm rotten, I'm sick when I pour fours/Every time I smoke, I light four raws" on the post-drill banger.

Josh says the moment was completely organic -- just like premium RAW Papers -- he never met either EsDeeKid or Timothee before the huge name drop, but has more in store for 2026.

A$AP Rocky is kicking off 2026 with a bang -- with the pending release of his first album in eight years!!!

On Monday, Rocky confirmed his long-awaited "Don't Be Dumb" album would drop on Jan. 16 ... the same album he was supposed to drop before 3 kids, 2 criminal trials, and 1 romance with Rihanna entered the picture!!!

Remember our viral interview where he was giving us the "runaround" while discussing the album finishing touches? That was over 2 years ago!!!

9:39 AM PT -- Cardi B has deleted her post ... although it's unclear why she decided to scrub it from her account.

Cardi B's proving she's a ride or die for her man -- vehemently defending Stefon Diggs as he faces serious charges ... saying his former personal chef never previously accused the star WR of getting physical.

The support came amid a tense social media exchange on Monday ... when one user pointed out Diggs' charges stemming from allegations made by his ex-employee, who claimed he choked and slapped her over a salary dispute in early December.

Cardi was having none of it ... clapping back and making it clear she won't tolerate any negative talk directed at Diggs -- 'cause she claims she has all the proof she needs to believe the chef is lying through her teeth.